Our little Bosco suddenly got very sick on sunday, the 21st. He started throwing up at 1 am, and by the time we all got up, he wouldn't eat or drink or anything, was still throwing up, and acting very strange. He was laying in rooms he never sleeps in and almost hiding from us. I thought I would give him a while and see if he would get better, but then he went outside and pooped pure blood. I immediately called Jeff and he found an animal ER I could take him to. I woke Maycee up and piled the kids and Bosco in the car and drove there. My family was coming up for dinner, so I called my mom and her and my dad came to the emergency place and watched the kids for me while we figured out what they wanted to do with Bosco. They did and xray to see if he ate anything and it was causing an obstruction, but they couldn't see anything. They did a test on his pancreas and it was normal. His blood work seemed normal except low white blood cell count and extreme dehydration. They wanted to keep him over night and give him iv's and keep an eye on him, but they closed the next morning at 8 so they said I had to pick him up by 7:30 am and transfer him to my regular vet.
Jeff went the next morning and got him and took him straight to our vet. He said he wasn't excited to see him or anything and he could tell he was in pain. Jeff left him there and went to work.
Our vet did some more tests and could not figure out what was wrong with Bosco. He called it HGE, but said they usually bounce back quick, and Bosco wasn't.
That afternoon, we were at gymnastics and the vet called Jeff. He told him to come down and see Bosco and decide if he wanted to bring him home or not. When me and the kids got home I asked Jeff about Bosco and he didn't want to talk about it in front of the kids. So we got them eating dinner and went upstairs to talk. Jeff basically said he might not even make it through the night. His blood work came back bad, and he had completely gone downhill all day. He didn't even raise his head and look at Jeff. He said it's like Bosco wasn't even there. Jeff told me the vet was going to try some major steroids and hope that would kick start his immune system and get his body to fight, but he wasn't hopeful at all. We were heartbroken. He is only 1 year old. And it's even harder when you have kids who are attached. I had to hide out in my room the rest of the night because I just couldn't face the kids. Jeff was good at acting like nothing was wrong, but I just couldn't do it.
I didn't sleep all night. I cried and cried and worried about my kids and how they would take it. The vet had told Jeff to come in the morning, so he dropped Sydnee off at school and then went straight there. When he got home, he handed me the keys and I said "Do I need to go say goodbye?" and he got a huge smile and said no! He was so much better! The steroids really helped and he made a turn for the better during the night. I couldn't believe it. What a huge relief!
Later that day, the vet thought Bosco would be fine to come home as long as we had him on a bland food diet and he sent home 3 medications. I was nervous about it and trying to keep Jasper away from him, but Jeff was off work that day and the next so that always makes things easier.
Jeff picked him up later that day and he was excited when he got home. He wagged his tail and wanted to go outside and I thought for sure he was on the mend! That night, I hardly slept because he held so still I had to keep touching him to make sure he was breathing. And the next day he went downhill again. He stopped eating and drinking, got really depressed again, and was totally miserable. I called the vet and he thought it best to bring him in and do some more blood work and a barium xray. He ended up staying there over night again. The barium test came out good and showed no obstructions, but the vet said there were other pros to it, such as it would kinda coat the stomach and intestines, and also if there was a small piece of cloth or something stuck, it could push it through. I'm not sure if any of that actually happened, but I do know that by the next morning he was a different dog. Jeff went and got him and brought him home and he was barking at the neighbors, running around, and starving! All very good signs! Ever since then he has been better every day. Especially when they took the catheder out of his leg, then he really got active.
He is still on 2 of his meds and one is a steroid, so he's not totally himself but in a few days he should be. It really was an amazing recovery he made. We are so happy, and though the kids don't know they almost lost him for good, they are sure glad he is home. We love our little Bosco!!
Jeff went the next morning and got him and took him straight to our vet. He said he wasn't excited to see him or anything and he could tell he was in pain. Jeff left him there and went to work.
Our vet did some more tests and could not figure out what was wrong with Bosco. He called it HGE, but said they usually bounce back quick, and Bosco wasn't.
That afternoon, we were at gymnastics and the vet called Jeff. He told him to come down and see Bosco and decide if he wanted to bring him home or not. When me and the kids got home I asked Jeff about Bosco and he didn't want to talk about it in front of the kids. So we got them eating dinner and went upstairs to talk. Jeff basically said he might not even make it through the night. His blood work came back bad, and he had completely gone downhill all day. He didn't even raise his head and look at Jeff. He said it's like Bosco wasn't even there. Jeff told me the vet was going to try some major steroids and hope that would kick start his immune system and get his body to fight, but he wasn't hopeful at all. We were heartbroken. He is only 1 year old. And it's even harder when you have kids who are attached. I had to hide out in my room the rest of the night because I just couldn't face the kids. Jeff was good at acting like nothing was wrong, but I just couldn't do it.
I didn't sleep all night. I cried and cried and worried about my kids and how they would take it. The vet had told Jeff to come in the morning, so he dropped Sydnee off at school and then went straight there. When he got home, he handed me the keys and I said "Do I need to go say goodbye?" and he got a huge smile and said no! He was so much better! The steroids really helped and he made a turn for the better during the night. I couldn't believe it. What a huge relief!
Later that day, the vet thought Bosco would be fine to come home as long as we had him on a bland food diet and he sent home 3 medications. I was nervous about it and trying to keep Jasper away from him, but Jeff was off work that day and the next so that always makes things easier.
Jeff picked him up later that day and he was excited when he got home. He wagged his tail and wanted to go outside and I thought for sure he was on the mend! That night, I hardly slept because he held so still I had to keep touching him to make sure he was breathing. And the next day he went downhill again. He stopped eating and drinking, got really depressed again, and was totally miserable. I called the vet and he thought it best to bring him in and do some more blood work and a barium xray. He ended up staying there over night again. The barium test came out good and showed no obstructions, but the vet said there were other pros to it, such as it would kinda coat the stomach and intestines, and also if there was a small piece of cloth or something stuck, it could push it through. I'm not sure if any of that actually happened, but I do know that by the next morning he was a different dog. Jeff went and got him and brought him home and he was barking at the neighbors, running around, and starving! All very good signs! Ever since then he has been better every day. Especially when they took the catheder out of his leg, then he really got active.
He is still on 2 of his meds and one is a steroid, so he's not totally himself but in a few days he should be. It really was an amazing recovery he made. We are so happy, and though the kids don't know they almost lost him for good, they are sure glad he is home. We love our little Bosco!!
